08 October 2009
Californian newspaper the Sacramento Bee has published an article criticizing the ink cartridge recycling programme run by the state and HP.
Headlined “California's 'green' ink-cartridge recycling fails to cut pollution, or costs”, the article alleges that 17 months after the programme was created it has delivered very few of the environmental benefits it had promised. The investigation was based on more than 100 pages of emails and other records.
The recycling programme was designed to cut down on the amount of plastic and metals being sent to landfill. HP and state officials in California had agreed to ship used HP printer cartridges from state offices to Virginia (on opposite coast of the US) to be recycled.
The article revealed that there were concerns from the state’s purchasing specialists at the Department of General Services (DGS) almost from the start of the programme, they were not consulted about it and ended up coming forward with concerns including allegations of unfair competition and ink waste.
Department officials say that they prefer to support remanufacturing cartridges at local businesses. Ben Martin, an Engineering Branch Manager at DGS, wrote in an e-mail to a colleague, “The bottom line is that it is environmentally preferable and fiscally prudent to buy remanufactured toner cartridges for state laser printers from California small businesses”.
But HP has a different view. Scott Canonico, Environmental Programme Manager for HP said that used cartridges are worse for the environment because they are poorer quality and waste more paper.
"With that waste … any benefits of remanufacturing can easily be offset," he said. "That's why HP has stuck with a single use and recycling model – to deliver on our promise of quality and reliability."
He said HP has examined the environmental and climate costs of its recycling programme, such as energy consumption, and found them acceptable. However, Canonico declined to provide data to back his claim. "Those are internal decision-making type of assessments," he said.
According to The Sacramento Bee, only about 10 cartridges a year are recycled now using the programme. More than 600 were shipped by California’s Department of General Services back to Virginia for recycling, but the newspaper says that none have left the agency's loading dock since March. Jim Butler, DGS' chief procurement officer told the paper that DGS is working on a more environmentally responsible purchasing contract requiring that all new state printers be compatible with remanufactured cartridges.
In California, the purchase of new cartridges continues to outpace remanufactured ones. The Sacramento Bee points out that from May 2007 to April 2008, agencies using the state office supplies contract spent $6.2 million on new toner cartridges, according to DGS figures, and just $807,000 – or 11 percent – on reused ones.
For the full article by The Sacramento Bee visit: http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/2212196.html